Conservation

Prairie in the city

An unexpected survival in St Louis

THE prairie once covered a million square miles of North America. Relentless settlement, bringing agriculture and grazing, reduced it to scattered remnants. One of the least known scraps survives, in all places, within the city limits of St Louis, Missouri.

Its hiding place is Calvary Cemetery, a 477-acre graveyard to the north of the city. Among the famous buried there are Tennessee Williams and William Tecumseh Sherman, of “Marching though Georgia” fame. Almost by accident, environmentalists discovered that an untouched 25-acre plot in the cemetery was one of the last bits of the prairie that, till the early 19th century, covered most of the site of present-day St Louis.

A detailed study found more than 130 species of native prairie plants, from the tallgrass that towered over the first settlers to the smallest, most delicate wild flowers. The city crowds all round it. Indeed, it is the only known piece of prairie within the Interstate 270 loop that circles the St Louis metro region.

Although the plot had been spared, it had been invaded by black locust trees and ornamentals imported from Asia. Joint efforts are now being made by the Missouri Botanical Garden, the Missouri Department of Conservation, the Nature Conservancy and the Green Centre of St Louis to encourage the native plants and weed out the intruders. The best way to do that is to burn the land, as happens naturally with wildfires. A number of controlled burns of small sections have eliminated some intrusive species while revitalising the native plants. The burned areas have already sprung back to life, healthier than before.

The archdiocese of St Louis, which owns the cemetery, has made a 100-year commitment to leave the land as a preserve and keep it open to the public. In the midst of the dead is a gift from the past to future generations.